For nearly 300 years the Romanovs ruled the vast territory of the Russian Empire as Czars and Czarinas. The wealth and power of the Czars and Czarinas afforded luxuries such as magnificent castles, beautiful clothing and priceless jewellery.

During the reign of Czar Nicholas II the rule of the Romanovs would come to an end. His rule ended with the Russian Revolution in February 1917 when , Czar Nicholas II was dethroned and his wife Aleksandra, son Aleksey, and daughters Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia were sent into exile in Siberia where we are told they were murdered in cold blood.

A lot of stories have circulated that there is a chance that Anastasia, escaped before her family was killed and went into hiding; never to reveal her true identity again.

anya ANASTASIA opens with a prologue showing the happy Romanovs holding court in St. Petersburg. Rasputin (Christopher Lloyd), the holy man/witch doctor to the royal family, is cast out by Czar Nicholas. So he descends into Hell and makes a deal with the dark side to cast a curse: the elimination of the Romanov line. Suddenly, the Romanovs are fleeing, and through a fluke, Anastasia (Meg Ryan) and her grandmother, Marie (Angela Lansbury), both escape.

Next thing we know, Anastasia is known as Anya (she has amnesia); she sports an Oliver Twist kind of orphan look. The movie then chronicles the impetuous and adorable orphan Anya's journey (with cute puppy in tow) to find her family and to discover her identity.Along the way, she teams up with the kindly Vladimir (Kelsey Grammer), former member of the royal court, and his young, con-artist friend, Dimitri (John Cusack), who has the charming look of Hugh Grant in FOUR WEDDINGS, but without the irritating ticks. Soon they're all off to find the exiled Dowager Marie in Paris, at which time they will present this scrappy but sassy orphan girl as her long-lost granddaughter, Anastasia, for a handsome reward.

Dimitri, Vlad, Anya, and Pooka make their journey with lots of adventures (look for really well done action sequences on the train and ship), and still have plenty of time for a makeover (a la MY FAIR LADY), plus some songs and romance. Meanwhile, Rasputin comes after Anya. Why? Because he wants to kill her, just like he killed the rest of her family. Rasputin sings this awful song about his pursuit of Anastasia: "In the dark of the night we'll find her and fulfill the curse/Soon she'll feel that her nightmares are real." Yuck, too scary!

I won't tell you the ending , however I will tell you it is a happy one (as all good Romances ought to have!)

See other parts of Maggie's Kingdom here!

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